Word of the Day

: October 1, 2011

obsequious

adjective ub-SEE-kwee-us

What It Means

: marked by or exhibiting a fawning attentiveness

obsequious in Context

The executive brought with him an entourage of obsequious assistants who would do anything he asked of them.

"The staff are amazing, ever-helpful without being obsequious, always cheerful (generally) and quick to join in the laughter and banter no matter how juvenile or how often they've heard it before." -- From a review of a pub in The Telegraph (London), July 18, 2011

Did You Know?

An obsequious person is more likely to be a follower than a leader. Use that fact to help you remember the meaning of "obsequious." All you need to do is bear in mind that the word comes from the Latin root "sequi," meaning "to follow." (The other contributor is the prefix "ob-," meaning "toward.") "Sequi" is the source of a number of other English words, too, including "consequence" (a result that follows from an action), "sequel" (a novel, film, or TV show that follows an original version), and "non sequitur" (a conclusion that doesn’t follow from what was said before).